Ten
years ago, a Maryland minister began to attack gambling. The state lottery
particularly galled him. His congregation had a number of African-American and
lower income members, many of whom were wasting their money on a pipe dream.
Then
he made an embarrassing discovery—his wife won the lottery. Even worse, during
the time period of all of those sermons on gambling, she had secretly and
consistently been purchasing lottery tickets.
Shortly
thereafter, a reporter from a local TV station interviewed the couple about
their recent experiences. The wife clearly felt uncomfortable. The preacher
addressed the reporter’s questions in the only way he knew how, “The Lord moves
in mysterious ways. His wonders to perform.”
Needless
to say, whether you agree with the preacher or not, the preacher’s message had
been severely undermined. If you are a preacher and your wife is making
decisions that are diametrically opposed to your message, you either need to
change your message, change your wife, or announce that you and your wife agree
to disagree.
I
wonder if God wrestles with this regarding the message He wants proclaimed to
the world. I wonder when He sees the bride of Christ consistently making
decisions that undermine His message, if he feels compelled to change His
bride? Does he feel obliged to announce that He and His bride agree to disagree?
I
do know this—He’s not going to change His message.
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